Who knows how many cars have never made it past the drawing board. And who knows how many prototypes were set aside after the tests, with the engineers headed to other shores. Certainly keeping a secret isn’t easy, especially today with social media taking pictures of everything. However, there are stories that have remained truly secret for a long time in the past. As in the case of the BMW M5 (E34) which fitted the V12 for some time which then ended up on McLaren F1 by Gordon Murray.
Exactly, it is precisely the twelve-cylinder 6.1-liter “V”, capable of expressing 627 hp and 650 Nm; an engine that propelled the much-loved supercar up to a speed of nearly 400 km / h. The news broke out in 2019 thanks to the podcast Collecting Cars by Chris Harris, host of Top Gear. During a chat with David Clarkresponsible for McLaren cars from 1994 to 1998, it turned out that a BMW M5 Touring it had been used as a test truck for the engine destined to be the heart of the McLaren F1.
Clark was given the complicated task of finding a way out of the deal with BMW, which involved supplying 350 of these engines, when McLaren finished production of F1 with just 106 in total. Obviously that engine had a completely different effect on a BMW station wagon. Clark revealed that he drove it, and described it as “a scary thing“. Understandable, given that at the time the original M5 V8 delivered 311hp and 360Nm of torque – it was a great leap forward.
The car – one of a kind – would be jealously preserved among other prototypes, away from prying eyes. It is part of the history of McLaren F1, even if he cannot expose himself. After all, it would have been very difficult to foresee a commercial development for a car with an altogether normal appearance, but with such a daring engine inside.
Later, this time for fun, BMW decided to place its V12 also inside an SUV, the later renamed BMW X5 Le Mans built in the year 2000. However, it was not the McLaren F1 V12, but a derivation of it more recent (S70 / 3) from 700 horses.
(article originally published in July 2019, and updated)
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